On the last day of the Republican National Convention, St. Paul’s police chief said he hopes students won’t walk out of class.

John Harrington said peaceful protests are planned for today, but “the one untoward event that we are hoping that most well-thought out students in the city will not take part in is … a call for students to walk out of school today. We think that’s a bad idea on almost every possible basis. The place for students today is to stay in school.”

Youth Against War and Racism have called for students to walk out of class at 11 a.m. today and head to the state Capitol, where they are planning a noon to 4 p.m. anti-war festival, rally and theater.

Police have talked to high school and college administrators and are hopeful students will “recognize that there have been many opportunities to participate in this process, there will be opportunities this evening,” Harrington said at this morning’s press briefing.

Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan also spoke today about the more than 100 arrests in downtown Minneapolis early this morning after the Rage Against the Machine concert.

The concert, with about 13,000 attending, let out of the Target Center about 10:30 p.m. “into a very, very busy downtown, into delegate events that were across the street,” Dolan said. “We were very, very nervous about that. We had a recipe there for the perfect storm. … Things went as well as I could have ever expected.”

A crowd marched down the street and blocked traffic; there was a heavy police presence. The group was “rambunctious,” Dolan said, but “they were not damaging property, they were not assaulting anybody. It was just basically a big event.”

Dolan said no tear gas was deployed, though officers used Mace.

There were no felony arrests and nearly all were misdemeanors. Most people were tagged and released, Dolan said.

“They wanted to be arrested,” he said. “I haven’t gotten any complaints about how they were arrested.”

At the Xcel Energy Center on Wednesday night, as Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin spoke, two women who later identified themselves as Code Pink members heckled her, Harrington said.

They had legitimate credentials and tickets to get in, and had been “dressed like all the convention goers,” but apparently changed their clothes when they got inside, Harrington said.

A Code Pink press release said the women approached the stage when Palin was speaking, adjusted their clothes to reveal pink slips that read, “Palin is not a woman’s choice.” They yelled, “Women say no to war!” and “Women need a vice president for peace!” for about a minute, the press release said.

The women were removed from the convention floor, their credentials were taken and they were escorted off the property and let go, Harrington said.

The women, Code Pink co-founders Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans, were given their tickets to the speech “by a Republican delegate who was frustrated with the Republican party and Sarah Palin,” the press release said.

Overall, Wednesday “was a day that really was marked with a lack of any major crisis or any major issues in the city of St. Paul,” Harrington said.

Police are hoping for the same thing today, he said.

A Peace Island Picnic is planned for this afternoon and evening on Harriet Island. The Anti-War Committee has a rally at the Capitol at 4 p.m. and then a march to the Xcel.

“We are hoping to close this day out and close the convention out on a very positive note,” Harrington said. “We do, however, have a plan in place if people want to disrupt the convention. … The plan is really one of being on ready, rather than being in the crisis mode.”

Mara Gottfried has been a Pioneer Press reporter since 2001, mostly covering public safety. Gottfried lived in St. Paul as a young child and returned to the Twin Cities after graduating from the University of Maryland. You can reach her at 651-228-5262.

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